Samara's Wake
by Karo Lunel
Summary: Seven years after Rachel and Aiden thought they had escaped the tragedy, after they had thought it was over, something-somebody-comes into their lives. They thought fear had come full circle, but it had only met them halfway.
1. Seven Years Later

It was an ordinary, bleak day.

A little girl around the age of eight years was watching wind-up mice scurry around in a plastic cage in a toy store. The girl had long, black hair, which her mother had to bribe her to brush, and she had blue eyes. She was staring at the mice with such intensity that one would think that she was trying to make them spontaneously combust.

One of the mice stopped moving. The girl focused her attention on that particular one. Very gradually, the winding key on its back began to turn. It gained momentum until it was fully wound and began to mechanically scurry around again.

The little girl smiled.

"It's time to go, sweetie," a voice said from behind. The little girl turned around to see her mother smiling down on her.

"Okay mommy." The little girl replied as she picked up her little purple plastic purse and followed her mother to the door.

Unfortunately, her purse contained something black, rectangular, and evil.

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Seven Years Later… 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Aiden slammed into his locker.

"Haha! Loser! Why don't you get some loser friends?" a boy jeered at him after pushing him into his locker.

Aiden pushed his golden-brown hair to the side as he started to collect his books. Suddenly, a hand came down and picked one up.

The hand handed the book to him.

"Here," the person the hand was attached to began, "Are you okay?"

Aiden looked at his helper. She was a girl with long black hair that partially covered her eyes. She was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt that hung loosely on her, stone-washed white jeans, and white sandals.

"Thank you," Aiden replied bemusedly, "What's your name?"

"It's Saria," the girl replied, "Saria Maurine. I'm new here."

"Hello, Saria. My name is Aiden Keller. Thank you for helping me."

"Don't mention it, I-augh!"

A senior wearing a varsity jacket had just shoved them down.

"Outta my way, loser freshman!" he said as he walked down the hallway overflowing with bravado.

Aiden and Saria got back up.

"You should look out for him," Aiden began, "His name's Ryan Witers. He thinks he can walk all over everyone."

"He should suffer…"

"I guess so, but-" Aiden looked up to see that Saria was glaring at Ryan, her hair parted back as if affected by static electricity. Suddenly, a locker opened and a slew of books fell on top of him.

"Wow, you have powers too…" Aiden whispered, amazed at what he had just saw.

"That's why I helped you," Saria replied, "I could sense that you were psychic as well."

"You remind me of somebody…"

"Really? Who?"

"A girl I knew a long time ago. You kind of look like her and your names are kind of similar, but I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

"Really?" Saria asked. A look of concern crossed with anger seemed to cross her face for a moment, but soon passed.

"Yes, but I try not to think about her anymore."

"Why not?"

"She…was…murdered."

"Oh…I'm so sorry to hear that." Suddenly, Saria's face brightened.

"Since I'm new here," she began, "Could you show me some of the community after school?"

"Sure, you can come over to my house and meet my mom, then I'll show you some points of interest."

"Okay, sounds great!"

At 3:15, Aiden and Saria walked out of the high school and into the seaside town. They walked for about a quarter of a mile down a road to a large yellow house. The two walked up to the door and Aiden opened it, then they stepped in.

"This is my house," Aiden began, "It's nice. My mom got it when we moved here seven years ago."

"It is nice," Saria replied, looking around, "Why did you moved?"

Aiden frowned, "We don't like to talk about it…"

"I see…"

Suddenly, they heard a scream. A woman with medium blond hair ran into the front hallway brandishing a kitchen knife. Saria screamed.

"KEEP YOUR DEAD HANDS OFF OF MY SON!" the woman screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Rachel! It's okay, this is my friend, Saria!" Aiden stepped in front of her to stop his mother from skewering Saria.

Rachel paused, "I am so sorry," she apologized, "I guess I've been a little on edge lately."

Saria just stared.

"Saria, this is my mom, Rachel Keller. She's a journalist. She's also a horrible chef."

Rachel glared at him.

"Sorry, Rachel, but it's true."

"I think I'm just going to lie down now…" Rachel said weakly.

"Does this have anything to do with the girl you said I remind you of?" Saria asked after collecting her wits.

"Err…" Rachel said intelligently.

"A little." Aiden finished, "So what do you like to do?"

"I like to make videos. I want to be a cinematographer when I get older. I'm thinking of going to SCAD when I graduate."

"Would you like some cake?" Rachel asked, "It's in the refrigerator if you want some; I'm going to go lie down now, and again, I'm very sorry, Saria."

"It's okay."

Aiden and Saria went into the kitchen as Rachel walked upstairs. Aiden opened the refrigerator and brought out a plate with a half-burnt chocolate cake on it.

"No thanks," Saria said quickly, "Not to be rude, I'm just not hungry."

"I understand." Aiden replied and put the cake back. They then went into the living room and sat on a white couch.

"So, you like making movies?" Aiden asked.

"Yes, would you like to see the most recent one I made?" Saria reached into her book bag and pulled out a nondescript, unlabeled videotape.

It was now Aiden's turn to scream at the top of his lungs.


	2. Sensing Evil

"Where did you get that!" Aiden screamed.

Saria, startled, fell off the couch. "This?" she asked, "I made it. It's a recording of a movie I made."

Aiden relaxed a little bit, but he was confused. He was sure he had sensed the evil of Samara's videotape on it. There would be only one way to find out. "I'm sorry," he said, "I thought it was something…else…" He then took the tape and put it into the video player. A picture of Saria appeared, which then talked about herself, then the camera turned to show a home with a "For Sale" sign with "Sold!" slapped across it. Aiden realized, correctly, that this must be Saria's new home in Astoria. The rest of the movie simply showed the inside of the house and places around the seaside community. Then it was over.

Aiden clapped feebly. "It was good," he complimented. He went over to the player to eject the tape. Suddenly, he felt a chill. Nervously, he looked up at the television screen. It was just static, but suddenly an image flashed onto the screen, and then disappeared. It was a picture that had haunted Aiden and Rachel, even after the whole incident had been over.

It was the ring.

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Aiden awoke several hours later to see Saria kneeling over him. "Good you're awake," she said, relieved, "I was worried for a minute. Actually, I was worried for," she looked at her watch, "Two hours and eighteen minutes. Why did you faint?"

"I…saw something," Aiden replied quickly, sitting up as he did so and almost fainting again from the rush, "Saria, where did you get that tape?"

Saria frowned, "I bought it at an electronics store, why?"

Aiden paused. Should he tell her about Samara, the videotape, the well, the ring, the death of his cousin and father, the possession, and everything else? After some consideration, he decided to do the best thing and lie.

"I guess I'm just hallucinating, that's all." He knew Saria wouldn't buy it, but it was worth a shot.

"Aiden, did you see my future?" Saria asked worriedly.

"No," Aiden replied, "I was just hallucinating, that's all. I have some homework to do." He then walked over to his bookbag and pulled out his large blue binder. It was decorated with pictures he had taken with his prized possession: his digital camera.

"I guess I had better go then," Saria said quietly, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye, Saria." Aiden then walked into the other room and took out a pencil he heard the front door open, and then close again. He wondered if it had been the right thing to do. Oh well, he would worry about after he finished his grammar homework.

About half an hour later, Aiden finished correcting the last sentence in the assignment and was getting tired. He closed his notebook, and paused. Something was missing; he wasn't sure what, but something was wrong with the front of his binder. Unbeknownst to him, though, when he had picked up his binder earlier, a picture had fallen out. It had been hidden partially behind another picture; a much happier one. He decided to worry about it in the morning, so after heating up some leftovers and eating them, he went upstairs and fell straight asleep.

That night, Aiden had a strange dream. He was standing in the middle of a green field. He could see horses on a distant hill. He also noticed a small girl with long dark hair. He walked up to her. She turned around. Her face was pale, and she had a worried and sad look on her face.

"Please," the girl implored to Aiden, "You must help me!"

"How?" Aiden replied. This is a very odd dream, he thought.

The girl looked up at Aiden with big, sad eyes and whispered, "I need to wake up." Suddenly, a hole appeared in the ground. A hand reached out and grabbed the girl's leg, pulling her into the hole. She screamed a piercing, haunting scream. The hole extended and Aiden fell in as well.

Suddenly, he woke up, drenched in sweat. He could still hear the girl screaming in his head. Suddenly, he knew what picture was missing, and exactly where it was.


End file.
